# Oh, no! Obama Imposes One-World Gov't On US!!1! (Interpol Exec order) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 30, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079 "2009-12-30T19:53:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/1 "2009-12-30T19:53:48Z")
I was alerted to this latest threat to democracy by [this page](http://threatswatch.org/analysis/2009/12/print/wither_sovereignty/), which breathlessly infomrs me that President Obama has issued a new Executive Order that is ultimately… > [@](#): > > placing INTERPOL above the United States Constitution and beyond the legal reach of our own top law enforcement… and will lead to > [@](#): > > …surrender[ing] American sovereignty to an international body whose INTERPOL enforcement arm has already been elevated above the Constitution and American domestic law enforcement… Perhaps so, although the discussion seems a bit hysterical for me to take it too seriously. On the other hand, I have to admit I’m not too clear on the reason for whatever change was actually made. So, assuming it won’t cause UN troops to occupy my root cellar, what does it do? (Factual question placed in GD because of potential for discussion.) ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/2 "2009-12-30T20:04:37Z")
Here’s the link on the white house page: [http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-amending-executive-order-12425](http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-amending-executive-order-12425), where you can get it without the kooky commentary. So far as I can tell, this just grants Interpol diplomatic immunity, in much the same sense we already grant it to diplomats of all major nations with whom we hold an embassy. In fact, it’s not even doing that – just removing a couple of exceptions from when Reagan actually granted the immunity decades ago. It’s a long, complicated order (3 lines), though, so I might have missed the part where we were disbanding the constitution in favor of the Interpol secret police. They’re sneaky like that. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/3 "2009-12-30T20:08:54Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Perhaps so, although the discussion seems a bit hysterical for me to take it too seriously. And this is what I think hurts the Right’s position more than anything else. They’ve screeched and hollered, wailed and gnashed teeth so much over every little thing that Obama has done (or not done) that at this point, I just don’t believe them. It’s the Boy Who Cried Wolf writ large- at this point, Obama could eat a live baby on TV (with millions of witnesses) and my first instinct would be to assume that it’s a total fabrication from Fox News. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/4 "2009-12-30T20:10:47Z")
Much ado about nothing. Basically par for the course for conservatives these days. > [@](#): > > So what does the counterterrorism official from the Bush years think of this? > > He can’t believe it’s taken this long. > > “To the extent that granting these immunities to INTERPOL furthers the efficacy or ease of information-sharing or joint action on an expedited basis to act on warrants seems like a no brainer to me,” the official says. > > “Conservatives can’t have it both ways,” the official says. “You can’t be complaining about the hypothetical abdication of US jurisdiction at the same time you’re complaining the Obama administration is not being tough enough on national security.” > > Obama administration officials say this new executive order doesn’t allow INTERPOL to do any more than they were allowed to do once Reagan recognized them as a public international organization. Though clearly the Executive Order does prohibit US law enforcement from searching and seizing INTERPOL records, officials say, those provisions can be waived by the president if need be. > > SOURCE: [http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/12/just-what-did-president-obamas-executive-order-regarding-interpol-do.html](http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/12/just-what-did-president-obamas-executive-order-regarding-interpol-do.html) I encourage a read of the whole thing to see that this is nothing unusual. Hell, the _International Pacific Halibut Commission and Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission_ enjoys what INTERPOL just got. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/5 "2009-12-30T20:10:48Z")
Joe Lieberman will save us by joining the filibuster! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/6 "2009-12-30T20:11:37Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Here’s the link on the white house page: [http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-amending-executive-order-12425](http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-amending-executive-order-12425), where you can get it without the kooky commentary. > > So far as I can tell, this just grants Interpol diplomatic immunity, in much the same sense we already grant it to diplomats of all major nations with whom we hold an embassy. In fact, it’s not even doing that – just removing a couple of exceptions from when Reagan actually granted the immunity decades ago. > > It’s a long, complicated order (3 lines), though, so I might have missed the part where we were disbanding the constitution in favor of the Interpol secret police. They’re sneaky like that. Yes, the order itself is short, but presumably the part that it removes from the previous order has some effect. In other words, if Reagan’s order already created the situation we want, then this order is superfluous; if this order is NOT superfluous, then it must have some effect. What is the effect? I reject the page I linked to because it has a tenuous grasp on reality, but I honestly don’t have a better substitute… ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/7 "2009-12-30T20:14:24Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > …I honestly don’t have a better substitute… See my link in Post #4. Seems to pretty concisely and rationally lay it out. The short version is INTERPOL did not have an office here till 2004. As such they did not need any more than Reagan gave them. This just puts them in the same place as other such organizations in this group. Nothing special here. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/8 "2009-12-30T20:19:13Z")
ISTM that this is merely an administrative matter, since INTERPOL regulations already provide for an equivalent of the FOIA for a resident of any member state, and presumably the member states in question have greater access to data themselves. I don’t know why this particular action was taken now - but given what is happening in the world it isn’t hard to guess. And also given that this raises no particular red flags - though as always proper oversight should be exercised. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/9 "2009-12-30T20:25:41Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > See my link in Post #4. Seems to pretty concisely and rationally lay it out. > > The short version is INTERPOL did not have an office here till 2004. As such they did not need any more than Reagan gave them. This just puts them in the same place as other such organizations in this group. Nothing special here. So from your link, it looks like this change grants immunity to search and seizure of Interpol records. Meh. Since it’s an executive order, if we need to conduct a particular search, it looks like the President can add in an “except in this case…” at the bottom. I agree - nothing to see here. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/10 "2009-12-30T20:28:09Z")
Snippet of the order: “… it is hereby ordered that Executive Order 12425 of June 16, 1983, as amended, is further amended by deleting from the first sentence the words “except those provided by Section 2(c), Section 3, Section 4, Section 5, and Section 6 of that Act” **and the semicolon that immediately precedes them**.” > [@TimeWinder](#): > > … I might have missed the part where we were disbanding the constitution in favor of the Interpol secret police. They’re sneaky like that. It’s all in the semi-colon, my friend, all in the semi-colon. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/11 "2009-12-30T20:30:06Z")
All the alarmed responses seem to center around section 2c, and the fact that now sections 3 through 6 are are applicable to INTERPOL do not concern anyone. It would be my wild guess that these latter items are as big or bigger concern to INTERPOL as 2c. Sections 3-6 all seem to be tax exemptions granted to property and persons associated with these international organizations. It looks to me as if Reagan’s original Executive order was designed to keep Interpol from establishing any offices in the US by saying that their property would be taxed, their staff would have to pay US income tax, and their records would be subject to search. So this new amendment puts Interpol on the exact same footing as innumerable other international organizations. Those would include but not be limited to: the World Health Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the International Labor Organization, the UN itself, the OAS, the World Bank, NATO, ad nauseum. The fear of takeover stuff is just bullshit speculation. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/12 "2009-12-30T20:31:10Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Much ado about nothing. Basically par for the course for conservatives these days. > > I encourage a read of the whole thing to see that this is nothing unusual. Hell, the _International Pacific Halibut Commission and Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission_ enjoys what INTERPOL just got. First they came for our halibut . . . ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/13 "2009-12-30T20:31:55Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > So from your link, it looks like this change grants immunity to search and seizure of Interpol records. > > Meh. > > Since it’s an executive order, if we need to conduct a particular search, it looks like the President can add in an “except in this case…” at the bottom. > > I agree - nothing to see here. Of more note I think is that this is nothing unusual for dozens of organizations already on the list. INTERPOL is not being given some new, special power that previously did not exist. Not to mention diplomatic immunity is far more comprehensive than even this is so by rights conservatives should be up in arms that we place foreign diplomats outside the reach of our police. As noted at the very end of the article it stipulates the President can waive this immunity if the need arises. I took it to mean that power already exists within the act but maybe a President has to sign a new Executive Order to take it away. Perhaps a difference with no distinction. I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/14 "2009-12-30T21:42:04Z")
To paraphrase a man with a mustache, “How many divisions does INTERPOL have?” ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/15 "2009-12-30T22:04:58Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > To paraphrase a man with a mustache, “How many divisions does INTERPOL have?” Dunno, but you can bet with an Orwellian name like INTERPOL their stormtroopers’ uniforms must be bitchin’. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/16 "2009-12-30T22:06:34Z")
Interpol is an intelligence agency that has no ability to arrest people. They provide intelligence to national law enforcement. So in a way interpol is an international spy organization that keeps tabs on the populaces of the entire world. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/17 "2009-12-30T22:31:19Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > First they came for our halibut . . . I knew there was something fishy going on. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/18 "2009-12-30T22:40:26Z")
As soon as I read the headline I knew this would be another one of those crazed oversimplifications of an issue that the extreme right likes to engage in. These are the same people who think we should go against the UN and most of the free world’s wishes and invade Iraq. Their interpretation of this Interpol thing should be mocked and then ignored ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/19 "2009-12-30T23:48:23Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > I knew there was something fishy going on. on a scale of 1 to 10, it’s a tempest in a teapot. These guys are floundering. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079/20 "2009-12-30T23:58:32Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > I knew there was something fishy going on. From the Inter-American Flounder Commission’s hearings calendar, “These are the times we try men’s soles.” 😛 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-obama-imposes-one-world-govt-on-us-1-interpol-exec-order/523079.md?page=2)